Please note: You need to have 'Active content' enabled in your IE browser in order to see the index of articles on this webpage

Foreigner nabbed for $62bn phone
bill

daily
mirror

Fortune Mbeleissue date :2006-Jun-10

A
CONGOLESE national has been arrested for allegedly diverting four TelOne phone
lines to two of his apartments in the Avenues area of Harare incurring a bill of
$62 billion.

Ian Koko Murwira (39) from the Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC) allegedly made several local and international calls
resulting in the huge bill.Murwira allegedly connived with yet to be
identified accomplices on the run and diverted lines from the President’s Office
club chambers, the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings (ZBH) and TelOne technical
lines.He was charged with two counts of contravening the Posts and
Telecommunications Act.According to the Act, it is illegal to affix or
attach any wire conductor or any other thing to any telecommunications line
belonging to or used by a telecom licencee without the authority of
TelOne.Allegations are that Murwira stayed at Nantwich Court in Flat Number
9 along Baines Avenue between December 2003 and December 2005 before he moved to
Rembrandt Court along Josiah Chinamano Avenue.He, however, remained the
official tenant at Nantwich.Between August 2005 and May this year, Murwira
allegedly connived with some people and illegally re-routed Harare numbers
707368 supposed to belong to the President’s Office, 703431 (ZBH) and 704428
(TelOne Unit 3) to the Nantwich apartment without the consent of the national
fixed telephone provider.He allegedly made various local and international
calls prejudicing TelOne of $44 536 595 336 in unpaid bills.In the other
case, allegations are that during the same period he diverted a TelOne
Electronic Repair Centre, Harare line 703573 to his Rembrandt Court flat. He is
accused of having made numerous calls accumulating a bill of $17 442 480 992 in
the process.The State alleges that in both circumstances there was
originally no line linking Murwira to the flats, as he had never applied to
TelOne for the lines.The alleged offences were unearthed after TelOne
officials detected the unpaid huge bills.The parastatal then conducted a
surveillance of the lines and discovered that several local and international
calls were actually stemming from the numbers allegedly linked to
Murwira.TelOne security officers carried out technical investigations using
what they call Cablines 93 – a system responsible for issuing lines to the
Avenues area – and discovered that the concerned lines ended at the apartments
in question.Murwira was granted $200 million bail by magistrate Faith
Mushure, but his joy was short-lived when prosecutor Servious Kufandada invoked
Section 121 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act implying an intention to
appeal against the ruling.This means Murwira will spend another seven days
behind bars pending determination by the Attorney-General (AG)’s office on
whether to appeal or not to the High Court against the lower court’s decision to
free him.Mushure had ruled that the State had failed to prove on a balance
of probabilities that the foreign national was likely to abscond trial if
granted bail.Kufandada argued that Murwira the possibility of Murwira
skipping trial were quite high since he possessed two passports - one indicating
he was Congolese and the other Gabonese.He further argued that the foreigner
could not be trusted since the two travelling documents bear conflicting names.
On the DRC passport, Murwira is identified as Ian Koko Murwira while on the
Gabonese one he is Ian Mourriroi Koko.Detective Collias Mushambi had also
argued that investigations were still premature as the police were yet to
account for Murwira’s accomplices.However, Harare lawyer Joel Mambara
dismissed the State’s assertions saying the case against his client was very
weak since there was no incriminating evidence linking Murwira to the alleged
offence.The lawyer said TelOne must put its house in order, and that the
police should have arrested the fixed telephone provider’s employees involved in
the scam and not Murwira.He further stated that there was no principle of
law, which called for denial of bail because one was a foreigner. “It is not
a principle of our law that foreigners should be incarcerated in our prisons.
There are mechanisms that can be placed into play by immigration officials that
the accused stays in the country until the matter is finalised,” Mambara said.
“There are TelOne employees who might have connived with the accused person
who are still at large. These are the people who should be brought to court not
the accused. To hold the accused until their arrest would be an injustice. There
is no guarantee whatsoever that the TelOne personnel will be brought to court,”
he further argued.Murwira was ordered to come back to court on June
23.

Chinese eye methane gas
reserves in Lupane

zimonline

Sat 10 June 2006

BULAWAYO - A high-powered Chinese delegation was in Zimbabwe last week to
explore vast methane gas resources in Lupane district in Matabeleland North
province as President Robert Mugabe's government forges ahead with its "Look
East" policy.

Sources in government say the Chinese are interested in tapping the country's
vast timber and methane gas resources in Lupane in addition to exploring
opportunities in the tourism sector which has been in decline since 2000.

Methane gas reserves were discovered in Lupane about seven years ago but have
not been exploited due to the country's crippling six-year old economic crisis.

The eight-man Chinese delegation was accompanied during the tour by
Matabeleland North Governor Sithokozile Mathuthu and Deputy Minister of Industry
and Commerce Maurice Sakabuya.

"The Chinese and Zimbabwe governments enjoy good relations and the visit by
the Chinese was to cement their relations while they were also exploring
business ventures with us and we will continue to do that with countries that
support us," Mathuthu said when asked for comment on the Chinese visit.

The main opposition Movement for Democratic Change party often accuses Mugabe
of mortgaging the country to the Chinese under his "Look East" he adopted after
falling out with the West over his government's failure to uphold human rights,
democracy and the rule of law.

The Chinese have literally taken over most shops in the capital Harare where
they sell cheaply priced and low quality goods imported from the Asian economic
giant. Local economic experts have warned that cheap goods from China could
force many of Zimbabwe's already struggling industries, particularly in the
textiles sector, to fold. - ZimOnline

A Stick in the
sand

Sent: Saturday, June 10, 2006 8:58 PMSubject:

Dear Family and Friends.

The news in Zimbabwe this week
has definitely been cause for saying: ifyou don't laugh you'll cry.
Inflation raced up by another hundred andfifty percent from last month and
now stands at 1193,5%. How are wesurviving it - frankly we aren't and yet
still the absurdity goes swirlingaround in the propaganda mill and no one
believes a word of it.

This week one of the main stories making headline
news on state ownedtelevision was that we are apparently in the process of
reaping a bumperharvest. An above average rainy season has produced a bumper
maize cropapparently and we should rest assured that there will be abundant
food forthe next twelve months. The report reminded us that maize is a
controlledcrop and can only be sold to the state owned GMB (Grain Marketing
Board)who are paying 31 million zim dollars for a tonne of maize. There
are,apparently, some "unscrupulous traders" who are selling their
maizeprivately for 37 millions dollars a tonne and this was illegal and
thesepeople would face "the full wrath of the law."

The GMB army man
being interviewed by ZBC TV said that the security offarmers delivering
maize to their depots was paramount. As if addressingkindergarten, he said
that 31 million dollars a tonne represented a lot ofmoney. He said that if a
farmer came with 10 tonnes of maize then for surethat man would be in a lot
of danger carrying around so much money. Forthis reason, said the GMB army
man, it would be safer if the GMB didn'tpay the farmer all the money at
once, it would just be too risky. Hisexact words were: "we don't want to put
our farmers at risk by making themcarry so much cash around." The army man
forgot to mention the fact thatinflation is making the money literally worth
less for every day the GMBhold back on paying up in full.

The next
part of the report was that the GMB have now got 80 permanent and320 mobile
depots where people can deliver their maize. The army man didnot acknowledge
the fact that the price of fuel went up from 200 to 260thousand dollars in
the last seven days so most people can't afford tomove their crop off their
front doorstep anyway.

Then the army man told us just exactly how secure
the country is asregards our staple food of maize. He said the crop was
coming in well sofar and that as of last week (around the 1st June) depots
all over thecountry had a total of six thousand metric tonnes in store. What
only sixthousand tonnes - can that be right I thought? Two and then three
moretimes the army man said there were "already six thousand tonnes in
storein GMB depots." A few scribbles on a bit of paper followed by days
ofasking lots of people for their opinions, the result is horrifying. If
weassume a population of 12 million people, allow an average consumption
ofhalf a kilogram of maize per person per day, then we need 6
thousandtonnes of maize a day. So, we have one day's worth of food in stock
in 400GMB depots.

The absurdity of this nightmare is the fact that
the GMB are actuallyprepared to give out such horrifying figures on national
television. Don't they think we can all work these numbers out - even with
a stick inthe sand in the dusty village. If we don't laugh we'll cry. Until
nextweek, love Cathy. Copyright Cathy buckle 10 June 2006http://africantears.netfirms.com My
books "African Tears" and "BeyondTears" are available from: orders@africabookcentre.com ;
www.africabookcentre.com

Zimbabwe:
Higher education role under spotlight

The Association of
Africa Universities’ (AAU) annual general meeting to review the association’s
achievements and challenges facing higher education in the continent opened at
Bindura University of Science Education (BUSE), the association president has
said.

AAU president Professor Njabulo Ndebele, who is also the
vice-chancellor of Cape Town University, was speaking yesterday after paying a
courtesy call on President Mugabe at Zimbabwe House. Accompanying him were the
association’s secretary general Professor Sawyer Akilagpa from Ghana, BUSE
vice-chancellor Professor Sam Tswana and Higher and Tertiary Education Secretary
Dr Washington Mbizvo.

Speaking to journalists after meeting the
President Prof Ndebele said they discussed various issues pertaining to higher
education in Africa. "The meeting provided an opportunity for the President to
reflect on the role of higher education in Africa and the need for the continent
to play a bigger role in promoting education, economic, political and social
development," he said.

The meeting, he said, provided them with an
opportunity to also reflect on the value of higher education in the quality of
human resources that come out of Africa’s universities that was exploited by
developed countries. Prof Ndebele said it was important for him and Prof
Akilagpa to visit President Mugabe in view of his link with both countries.

This, he said, enabled them to share their personal experiences,
with the President reflecting on his experience in South Africa where he was a
student and his connection with Ghana. "We examined a lot of personal
experiences and challenges facing the continent today," said Prof Ndebele.

"I met a man who is very knowledgeable about challenges facing
higher education. A man with a good knowledge of the world today and with a
tremendous sense of humour." Turning to the annual general meeting, Prof Ndebele
said the 63rd meeting of the executive board, which sits once annually would
review achievements made by the association over the past year. They were
deliberating on the tenure of executive board, enhancing the relevance of the
association and the need to improve its visibility.

The association,
he said, played a major role as it was constantly engaged with African Union and
NEPAD to address education and human resources matters. Prof Ndebele, who
described research done in Zimbabwe as successful, said higher education could
make an important contribution to a lot of researches in the continent, as this
have a potential value for generating income for African countries.

He commended the higher education institutions in Africa for their
power of resilience and innovation. Prof Akilagpa stressed the need for his
association to network with the media for them to realise their goals. "We
should make ourselves available to media and give you a range of quite
impressive innovations," said Prof Akilagpa who admitted that the higher
education institutions were not meeting their obligations on time.

Prof Akilagpa expressed concern over the increasing number of the
highly meritorious scholars who are leaving the continent to seek greener
pastures in the diaspora. "Brain drainage is clearly a matter of great concern
to all of us, but we should look at it in a more constructive manner," he said.

He called on the African countries to look into ways to curb brain
drain saying it was important to create conditions that would keep them in their
home countries. "We are not exploiting the talent of our colleagues in the
diaspora. We should explore ways on how we can utilise those on the diaspora to
benefit our countries," he said. The AAU, which has its secretariat in Ghana,
was established in 1967 and helps to network universities and provide regional
forums to exchange ideas. The association is made up of 200 universities.

Zimbabwe:
Msika spends five days in SA hospital

Ailing Vice
President Joseph Msika of Zimbabwe was last Monday flown to a private hospital
in Cape Town, South Africa, for specialist treatment for an undisclosed ailment.

He returned on Friday. Government spokesman, George Charamba,
confirmed yesterday that Msika was flown to South Africa for specialist
treatment.

“He flew to South Africa last week (Monday) for a medical
review with physicians,” said Charamba, adding that Msika “flew back yesterday
(Friday). He is now back.”

Charamba revealed that Msika three weeks ago
“went to Cape Town to consult physicians”.

He could not be drawn to
comment on the Vice President’s current condition, ailment or when he is likely
to return to work.

A family spokesperson said yesterday: “I cannot
disclose that (Msika’s illness) to the Press. Sorry, we cannot allow you to talk
to him or other members of the family.” He declined further
comment.

Authoritative sources, however, told The Standard that Msika’s
health had deteriorated, resulting in him being flown to the neighbouring
country for specialist treatment.

“It is true that the Vice President’s
health continued to deteriorate three weeks ago and had to be flown twice to
South Africa. He has been in and out of hospital of late and we are worried
about his health,” said an authoritative source close to Msika.

Other
authoritative sources within the ruling party told this newspaper yesterday that
Msika has been on sick leave for close to a month.

Mbeki
responds to pressure on Zimbabwe crisis

SW
Radiohttp://www.swradioafrica.com/news090606/Kasrils090606.htm

By Tererai Karimakwenda09
June 2006It has been reported that South Africa’s Minister of Intelligence
Ronnie Kasrils has been in Zimbabwe on a mission to meet State Security Minister
Didymus Mutasa in a new attempt to find a solution to Zimbabwe’s political and
economic crisis. The reports said Kasrils flew into Harare on a private jet
Thursday accompanied by South Africa’s National Intelligence Agency chief Manala
Manzini and South African Secret Service chief Dennis Hilton. This delegation
was expected to conduct talks aimed at arranging a summit between their
President Thabo Mbeki and Robert Mugabe. Mbeki has seen increased pressure
recently to abandon his so-called “quiet diplomacy” on Zimbabwe and start acting
to resolve the crisis next door. Mugabe himself is also under much pressure due
to a fast deteriorating economy and massive shortages of basic commodities.
Recent critical reports by Amnesty International and the International Crisis
Group, a Brussels-based think tank, have also added to pressure. The ICG report
described Mugabe as being “increasingly desperate and dangerous.” But it is
Mbeki however, who is reported to have initiated this new round of diplomatic
talks. As usual information has been difficult to come by. South African
government spokesman Joel Netshitenzhe said he had no information and referred
us to the foreign ministry. Ronnie Mamuepa, the Foreign Affairs spokesman, said
he could neither confirm nor deny reports of Kasril’s mission. But journalist
Angus Shaw who is on the ground in Zimbabwe said there is talk among the
diplomatic community, particularly the European Union and the British, which
suggests that Kasrils did indeed meet Mutasa and that he left Zimbabwe Friday
morning. Shaw said this is possible because there is pressure on Mugabe from
young reformists within the ruling party to accept some conditions being offered
by Mbeki and British prime minister Tony Blair. They are said to be offering an
aid package that would require economic and political reforms and a possible
timetable for Mugabe’s departure. Shaw said this is the “Carrot and Stick”
approach.

Mbeki recently visited British Prime Minister Tony Blair
in London and told reporters it would be wise to wait for the outcome of efforts
by the UN secretary general Kofi Annan before acting on Zimbabwe. But the UN
chief did not confirm any such efforts and officials at the UN denied any
knowledge of a planned visit to Zimbabwe.

Rebel prelate condemns 'corrupt' church collusion with
Mugabe

Many churches in Zimbabwe have
lost credibility with the poor because some of their leaders are colluding with
the Mugabe regime and they are capitulating to corruption.

That is the
view of outspoken Roman Catholic Archbishop Pius Ncube of Bulawayo in a recent
SW Radio Africa
interview with Violet Gonda, reports Independent Catholic News.

“The
Church has let down the people very, very greatly by siding with Mugabe ­ hook,
line and sinker,” declared Ncube, who has been accused of spouting ‘poison’ and
‘treason’ by the regime for whose non-violent removal he has
called.

Speaking on the ‘Hot Seat’ programme, the Archbishop accused
President Robert Mugabe of employing “divide and rule tactics” to silence
opposition from within the churches – including the use of bribes directed
towards senior clergy.

He said that some priests were even spying for the
government in order to preserve their own security and influence, or as a result
of threats of violence.

On the question of bribery, the Catholic prelate
declared: “I can confirm that a lot of money is being given to clerics and farms
have been given to senior clerics, to get them to the government side in such a
way that when we meet as clergy we can no longer be united.

Archbishop
Ncube said he would not name specific people receiving bribes, in order to avoid
making the issue “nasty and very personal”. However he mentioned a bishop and a
pastor who were “well known” for having accepted confiscated farms.

He
claimed that he was one of those who had been offered a farm. But he said: "I am
a respectable Catholic, so I refused. I knew they wanted to silence me because I
am critical of the land reform programme, which is not
transparent."

Ncube said Mugabe is aware of the power of the churches in
Zimbabwe and has divided and bribed some of the leaders to the extent that "we
have become unfaithful to our calling. We as churchmen are supposed to stand
with the poor to defend the poor – and we have forgotten our
mission."

The Archbishop has also been publicly critical of the
governments ‘clear out rubbish’ urban demolition programme against slum dwellers
and informal businesses – which Mugabe claims is part of a ‘redevelopment’
initiative.

Zimbabwe has been condemned for its abuses of human rights
and its attacks on the poor by the United Nations, the churches worldwide, and
the international community.

But President Mugabe says that all his
opponents are ‘imperialist’ – including anti-apartheid Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

The South African government of Thabo Mbeki has maintained what its
supporters say is a “diplomatic” public silence on Zimbabwean abuses because of
political and economic ties.

But the growing refugee crisis and
criticism from the churches and human rights activists seems to be leading to a
more critical stance.

Concerted efforts urged to fight TB in Zimbabwe

People's Daily

Zimbabwe's Health and Child Welfare Minister David Parirenyatwa called for
concerted efforts Friday to combat tuberculosis, the country's second leading
killer disease after AIDS. Speaking at the commemoration of the World
Tuberculosis Day, the minister said most people infected with HIV/AIDS were also
vulnerable to tuberculosis infection. In view of this, he said, there was
need for a multi-sectoral approach to the two diseases, which are interlinked.
"The immune deficiency status caused by the HIV infection renders the
patient prone to infection by tuberculosis," he said, adding that TB, HIV and
AIDS are a deadly combination whose interventions require integration,
coordination and a multi sectoral collaboration. Actions or interventions
for HIV and AIDS also apply to tuberculosis control. Among them are behavior
change, communication for the prevention of primary HIV infection and voluntary
counseling and testing to determine status, he said. Source: Xinhua

Rats and Mice

Reported from Bulawayo (KN)
10/6/06
Hungry entrepreneurs in the making are resorting to selling rodent meat in Zimbabwe. One such man is catching rats and mice in the bushy areas on the outskirts of Bulawayo (Burnside). Roasting the rodents rats and mice, spiced with salt and chilli powder, he then commutes to the western suburbs of Makokoba and Luveve where he fetchs between $75000 to $ 100000 per mouse/rat.
People are so desperate to eat meat that business is thriving. Beef is retailing at $790000 per kg in most butcheries around Bulawayo.